Input Parameters

This is just a quick overview of the major parameters and measurements provided by NOAA that get pulled into the model. There are a few different sources for these parameters, though in the end the sources all have pretty much the same data.

Time

  • Timestamp
    • Data is generally provided in Track datasets, where each set of measurements has a corresponding timestamp.
    • Includes Year, Month, Day, Hour, and often Minute, but hour is the primary resolution
    • measurements are usually at 6 hour intervals, but sometimes interim measurements are made for large or notables storms
    • Models tend to interpolate between time steps for more uniform coverage

Position and Movement

  • Position
    • Provided as a Lat/Lng, to a 10th of a degree resolution
    • Range: 90W-90E, 90S-90N
    • Most NOAA products provide this in the format 1234E, 5678S. So parsing takes dealing with the N/S E/W character and dividing to get the decimal
  • Heading
    • Direction of Hurricane Movement
    • Range: 0-369 Degrees
    • Generally reported in Compass Degrees (North is 0 degrees)
  • Forward Speed - FSpeed
    • Forward motion of the hurricane along its heading
    • Range: 0-100 kts
    • Generally reported in Knots (~1.15 mph = 1 kt)

Intensity

  • Velocity of Max Wind - VMax
    • Range: 0-250 kts
    • Maximum 1-minute average sustained wind speed in the hurricane
    • Generally reported in Knots (~1.15 mph = 1 kt)
    • This is the major intensity measurement
  • Minimum Sea Level Pressure - MSLP
    • Also known as Central Pressure - CP
    • The minimum barometric pressure in the storm
    • Range: 850-1050 mb
    • Generally reported in millibars
    • This is an alternate intensity measurement, and there are reasonably good conversions between this and Vmax

Structure

  • Radius of Maximum Wind - RMW, Rmax
    • The radius, from the center of the hurricane eye, where the maximum wind speed occurs
    • Range: 0-999 nmi
    • Generally measured in Nautical Miles (~1.15 mi = 1 nmi)
    • This basically is the radius of the eye wall, since in a well-formed hurricane that’s where the maximum winds are
    • This is one of the more important model parameters, and one of the least accurate unfortunately

References